Information processing system, information processing apparatus, method and program

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus and method, and a program in which the purchase of content can be facilitated. When a device to which content data is downloaded and a device for giving an instruction to purchase the content data are different, a purchase form for purchasing the content data is sent to the device for giving an instruction to purchase the content data. The user ID and password are input into the purchase form, and the device to which the content data is downloaded is determined by the user ID. If the device to which the content data is downloaded cannot be specified because the user registers a plurality of devices, a destination determination form for specifying the device to which the content data is downloaded is sent. The content data is then distributed to the device indicated in the destination determination form. The present invention is applicable to a server for executing processing concerning content data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This document is a Continuation application of and is based upon anclaims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 from U.S. Ser. No.10/512,813, filed Aug. 12, 2005, herein incorporated by reference, whichis a National Stage Application of International Application No.PCT/JP04/02650, filed Mar. 3, 2004, which claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-057396,filed Mar. 4, 2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to information processing systems,information processing apparatuses and methods, and programs. Theinvention relates to an information processing system, an informationprocessing apparatus and method, and a program, which are suitable forpurchasing content data.

BACKGROUND ART

Due to the recent widespread use of networks, such as the Internet, thepurchasing of various goods (or following certain procedures forpurchase) on networks is becoming common. There are various goods thatcan be purchased on a network, for example, not only tangible goods butalso intangible goods. Intangible goods include, for example, music dataand video data.

Some intangible goods can be obtained not only by being purchased, butalso by being rented. Regardless of whether the user purchases or rentsintangible goods, he/she can purchase desired content data, such asmusic data or video data, by using a computer at home without the needto go to music stores or rental stores for compact discs storing contentdata.

Unlike tangible goods, the intangible goods can be easily copied, andundesirable actions may occur, for example, copies of the intangiblegoods may be delivered from one purchaser to other persons. Generally, amechanism for preventing such undesirable actions is contained inintangible goods.

For example, data concerning licenses (usage rights) is provided (sent)together with content data. By using such license data, the playbackoperation of content data provided to the user is managed, therebypreventing undesirable actions, such as copying.

When the user wishes to purchase content data via a network, he/shefirst accesses a site handling the content data via the network, andperforms processing for purchasing the content data, such as inputtingpredetermined information, according to instructions from the site.

After completing the processing for purchasing the content data, thecontent data is downloaded from the site to a user device via thenetwork. The downloaded content data is stored in a recording medium,such as a hard disk drive, in the device, together with license data.

After being downloaded to the user device, the license data isassociated (bound) with ID information unique to the device storing thecontent data. Because of this association, even if the content data iscopied, it can be prevented from being played back in a device otherthan the device which has downloaded the content data, i.e. a devicethat cannot associate its ID information with the license data.

In this manner, content data is downloaded to a device in which purchaseprocessing was performed and is played back by this device. Accordingly,when the user purchases content data by using a device other than adevice at home when he/she is away, he/she cannot play back thepurchased content data by using the device at home.

In other words, the user cannot perform processing for storing desiredcontent data in the device at home by using a different device when, forexample, the user is away from home. Accordingly, the user cannotpurchase content data by using a device different from the device usedfor playing back the content data.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In view of the above background, it is an object of the presentinvention to enable a user to perform processing for purchasing contentdata by using a device different from a device to play back the contentdata.

A first information processing apparatus of an information processingsystem of the present invention includes: first management means formanaging a first ID for identifying the content; second management meansfor managing a second ID for identifying the third informationprocessing apparatus; supply means for supplying the first ID managed bythe first management means to the second information processingapparatus in response to a request to distribute the content from thesecond information processing apparatus; and distribution means forspecifying, when receiving the first ID and information for specifyingthe second ID from the second information processing apparatus, thesecond ID managed by the second management means from the receivedinformation and for distributing the content identified by the first IDto the third information processing apparatus corresponding to thespecified second ID. A second information processing apparatus includes:request means for requesting the first information processing apparatusto distribute the content; and sending means for sending the first IDcorresponding to the content selected by a user from the first IDsupplied from the supply means and for sending information forspecifying the second ID in response to the request from the requestmeans. A third information processing apparatus includes storage meansfor receiving and storing the content distributed by the distributionmeans.

An information processing apparatus of the present invention includes:first management means for managing a first ID for identifying a firstapparatus; second management means for managing a second ID foridentifying content; supply means for supplying the second ID managed bythe second management means to a second apparatus in response to arequest to distribute the content from the second apparatus; specifyingmeans for specifying, when receiving the second ID and information forspecifying the first ID from the second apparatus, the first ID managedby the first management means from the received information; anddistribution means for distributing the content identified by the secondID to the first apparatus corresponding to the first ID specified by thespecifying means.

The first management means may manage user information for identifying auser, a password, and the first ID in association with each other, andthe specifying means may receive information containing at least one ofthe user information and the password as the information for specifyingthe first ID.

The information processing apparatus may further include schedulingmeans for forming, when the first ID is specified by the specifyingmeans, a schedule for distributing the content identified by the secondID to the first apparatus corresponding to the specified first ID. Thedistribution means may distribute the content based on the scheduleformed by the scheduling means.

The information processing apparatus may further include providing meansfor providing, when the schedule for the first apparatus is formed bythe scheduling means, the schedule to the first apparatus in response toa request to provide the schedule from the first apparatus.

An information processing method of the present invention includes: afirst management step of managing a first ID for identifying a firstapparatus; a second management step of managing a second ID foridentifying content; a supply step of supplying the second ID managed byprocessing of the second management step to a second apparatus inresponse to a request to distribute the content from the secondapparatus; a specifying step of specifying, when receiving the second IDand information for specifying the first ID from the second apparatus,the first ID managed by processing of the first management step from thereceived information; and a distribution control step of controlling thedistribution of the content identified by the second ID to the firstapparatus corresponding to the first ID specified by processing of thespecifying step.

A program in a recording medium of the present invention includes: afirst management step of managing a first ID for identifying a firstapparatus; a second management step of managing a second ID foridentifying content; a supply step of supplying the second ID managed byprocessing of the second management step to a second apparatus inresponse to a request to distribute the content from the secondapparatus; a specifying step of specifying, when receiving the second IDand information for specifying the first ID from the second apparatus,the first ID managed by processing of the first management step from thereceived information; and a distribution control step of controlling thedistribution of the content identified by the second ID to the firstapparatus corresponding to the first ID specified by processing of thespecifying step.

A program of the present invention allows a computer to execute: a firstmanagement step of managing a first ID for identifying a firstapparatus; a second management step of managing a second ID foridentifying content; a supply step of supplying the second ID managed byprocessing of the second management step to a second apparatus inresponse to a request to distribute the content from the secondapparatus; a specifying step of specifying, when receiving the second IDand information for specifying the first ID from the second apparatus,the first ID managed by processing of the first management step from thereceived information; and a distribution control step of controlling thedistribution of the content identified by the second ID to the firstapparatus corresponding to the first ID specified by processing of saidspecifying step.

According to the present invention, even when a device for making arequest to distribute content and a device for receiving and storing thecontent are different, the request is processed and content can bedistributed to the designated device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an embodiment ofan information processing system to which the present invention isapplied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof a service provider.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof an STB.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof a PC.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the externalconfiguration of a cellular telephone.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the internalconfiguration of the cellular telephone.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the functions of the serviceprovider.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the functions of the STB.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing for registering a device.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a televisionreceiver.

FIG. 11 illustrates the data configuration of a destination table.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another processing for registering adevice.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 14 illustrates another configuration of the destination table.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating processing for changing registeredinformation.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 18 illustrates another configuration of the destination table.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating purchase processing.

FIG. 20 illustrates data stored in a content database.

FIG. 21 illustrates data stored in a license issuer.

FIG. 22 illustrates schedule data.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating another purchase processing.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the serviceprovider.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the serviceprovider.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the STB.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the serviceprovider.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating present processing.

FIG. 31 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 32 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 33 illustrates an example of the screen displayed on a displayunit.

FIG. 34 illustrates a distribution reservation table for reservingschedules.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating scheduling.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the serviceprovider.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention is described below with referenceto the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustratingan embodiment of an information processing system integrating aninformation processing apparatus to which the present invention isapplied. A network 1 is a network formed of the Internet or a LAN (LocalArea Network). A service provider 2 is connected to the network 1.

In this embodiment, the service provider 2 is a provider for offeringservices for providing content data to user devices.

A user A owns a STB (Set Top Box) 11, a PC (Personal Computer) 12, and acellular telephone 13 as devices which can be connected to the network1. Similarly, a user B owns a STB 21, a PC 22, and a cellular telephone23 as devices which can be connected to the network 1. The STBs 11 and21 and the PCs 12 and 22 can be connected to the network 1 while theyare installed in the user A's home and the user B's home, respectively.The cellular telephones 13 and 23 can be connected to the network 1 evenwhen they are in a place away from the user A's home and the user B'shome.

The basic configuration and functions of the STB 11 owned by the user Aare similar to those of the STB 21 owned by the user B. The same appliesto the PC 12 and the PC 22 owned by the user A and the user B,respectively, and the cellular telephone 13 and the cellular telephone23 owned by the user A and the user B, respectively. For giving adescription of these devices in the following specification, the STB 11,the PC 12, and the cellular telephone 13 are discussed by way ofexample, and a description of the STB 21, the PC 22, and the cellulartelephone 23 is omitted, assuming that the same explanation applies tothem, unless otherwise stated.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the service provider 2. The service provider 2 is formed of, forexample, a computer. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41 of the serviceprovider 2 executes various types of processing according to a programstored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42. In a RAM (Random Access Memory)43, data and programs required for executing various types of processingby the CPU 41 are stored. An input unit 46 formed of, for example, akeyboard and a mouse, is connected to an input/output interface 45, andoutputs a signal input into the input unit 46 to the CPU 41. An outputunit 47 formed of, for example, a display and a speaker, is alsoconnected to the input/output interface 45.

A storage unit 48 formed of, for example, a hard disk, and acommunication unit 49 for sending and receiving data to and from anotherdevice (for example, the STB 11) via the network 1, such as theInternet, are also connected to the input/output interface 45. A drive50 is used for reading and writing data from and into recording media,such as a magnetic disk 61, an optical disc 62, a magneto-optical disk63, and a semiconductor memory 64.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the internal configuration of the STB11. A CPU 81 expands a control program stored in a ROM 82 into a RAM 83so as to control the entire operation of the STB 11 based on aninstruction from a user supplied from an infrared receiver 84.

For example, in response to an instruction from the user to display anEPG (Electronic Program Guide) on a monitor (not shown) connected to theSTB 11, the CPU 81 executes processing for displaying an image on themonitor based on EPG data supplied from a demultiplexer 87.

The infrared receiver 84 receives infrared emitted from a remotecontroller (not shown) for the STB 11 and outputs a commandcorresponding to the user's instruction to the CPU 81.

A storage unit 85 stores information concerning programs for whichrecord reservations or viewing reservations are made or informationconcerning an ID supplied from another device (in this case, the serviceprovider 2). Based on an instruction from the CPU 81, a communicationunit 86 extracts a predetermined channel signal, performsanalog-to-digital conversion, QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)demodulation, and error correction, and outputs a obtained transportstream to the demultiplexer 87 at the stage subsequent to thecommunication unit 86.

The communication unit 86 sends and receives data to and from theservice provider 2 via the network 1 and also performs processing on thesending data and the received data.

The demultiplexer 87 temporarily stores a supplied transport stream in abuffer memory 88, and descrambles the transport stream by using adescramble key supplied from an IC card (not shown). The demultiplexer87 then extracts packets forming video data of a program specified bythe CPU 81 from the descrambled data based on the identifiers, andoutputs the extracted packets to a video decoder 89. The demultiplexer87 also extracts packets in which audio data of the program is stored,and outputs the extracted packets to an audio decoder 90.

The video decoder 89 plays back the supplied packets according to, forexample, the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)2 method, and suppliesthe played back video signal to a monitor (not shown) and displays it onthe monitor. The audio decoder 90 similarly plays back the suppliedpackets, and supplies the played back audio signal to a speaker (notshown) and outputs it from the speaker.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the internalconfiguration of the PC 12. A CPU 101 of the PC 12 executes varioustypes of processing according to a program stored in a ROM 102. In a RAM103, data and programs required for executing various types ofprocessing by the CPU 101 are stored. An input unit 106 formed of, forexample, a keyboard and a mouse, is connected to an input/outputinterface 105, and outputs a signal input into the input unit 106 to theCPU 101. An output unit 107 formed of, for example, a display and aspeaker, is also connected to the input/output interface 105.

A storage unit 108 formed of, for example, a hard disk, and acommunication unit 109 for sending and receiving data to and fromanother device (for example, the service provider 2) via the network 1,such as the Internet, are also connected to the input/output interface105. A drive 120 is used for reading and writing data from and into arecording medium, for example, a magnetic disk.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the external configuration of thecellular telephone 13. FIG. 5 shows that the cellular telephone 13 isdivided into a display portion 122 and a main portion 123 across acenter hinge 121, and can be folded at the hinge 121.

A transceiver antenna 124 is attached to the top left of the displayportion 122 in the state in which it can be pulled out of and retractedinto the display portion 122. Radio waves are transmitted and receivedvia the antenna 124 to and from a base station for controlling theconnection with the network 1. A camera unit 125 rotatable in the anglerange of about 180 degrees is disposed at the top center of the displayportion 122, and a desired image subject can be captured by a CCD camera126 provided for the camera unit 125.

When the camera unit 125 is rotated, the CCD camera 126 disappears and aspeaker (not shown) appears, and the user can listen to the voice on thetelephone.

A liquid crystal display 127 is provided at the front side of thedisplay portion 122, and displays, not only the reception status ofradio waves, the remaining capacity of batteries, the names andtelephone numbers registered in the address book, and the callinghistory, but also email messages, simplified homepages, and imagescaptured by the CCD camera 126 of the camera unit 125.

On the obverse surface of the main portion 123, operation keys 128, suchas numeric keys from 0 to 9, a calling key, a redial key, ahang-up/power key, a clear key, and an email key, are provided, andvarious instructions can be input by using the operation keys 128.

A microphone 129 is provided for the main portion 123, and user's voiceon the telephone is collected by the microphone 129. A rotatable jogdial 130 is disposed above the operation keys 128 such that it slightlyprojects from the surface of the main portion 123. In accordance withthe rotating operation on the jog dial 130, various operations, forexample, scrolling of the address book list and email messages displayedon the liquid crystal display 127, page scrolling of simplifiedhomepages, or forwarding of images, can be performed.

A Memory Stick® slot 131 for inserting a memory stick 140 (produced bySony Corporation) that can be inserted/removed is provided at the top ofthe left side of the main portion 123. Email messages, simplifiedhomepages, and images captured by the CCD camera 126 can be recorded inresponse to the user's operation.

Since the memory stick 140 can be inserted into the main portion 123,the cellular telephone 13 can share data with other electronic devicesvia the memory stick 140.

In the cellular telephone 13, as shown in FIG. 6, a power supply circuit161, an operation input controller 162, an image encoder 163, a camerainterface 164, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) controller 165, an imagedecoder 166, a demultiplexer 167, a recorder/player 168, a modem circuit169, and an audio codec 170 are connected to a main controller 160 forcentrally controlling the elements of the display portion 122 and themain portion 123 via a main bus 171. Also, the image encoder 163, theimage decoder 166, the demultiplexer 167, the modem circuit 169, and theaudio codec 170 are connected to each other via a synchronizing bus 172.

When the hang-up/power key is turned ON by the user's operation, thepower supply circuit 161 supplies power from a battery pack to theindividual elements, thereby starting the cellular telephone 13.

Under the control of the main controller 160 formed of a CPU, a ROM, anda RAM, the cellular telephone 13 converts an audio signal collected bythe microphone 129 during the audio conversation mode into digital audiodata by the audio codec 170, performs spread spectrum on the digitalaudio data by using the modem circuit 169, performs digital-to-analogconversion and frequency conversion on the digital audio data by using atransceiver circuit 173, and then sends the resulting data via theantenna 124.

The cellular telephone 13 also amplifies a signal received by theantenna 124 during the audio conversation mode so as to performfrequency conversion and analog-to-digital conversion, performsde-spread spectrum by using the modem circuit 169, and converts thedigital signal into an analog audio signal by using the audio codec 170,and then outputs the analog audio signal via a speaker 174.

When receiving data of a moving-picture file linked to a simplifiedhomepage during the data communication mode, the cellular telephone 13performs de-spread spectrum on a signal received from a base station viathe antenna 124 by using the modem circuit 169, and sends the resultingmultiplexed data to the demultiplexer 167.

The demultiplexer 167 demultiplexes the multiplexed data so as to divideit into coded image data and coded audio data. The demultiplexer 167then supplies the coded image data to the image decoder 166 and alsosupplies the audio data to the audio codec 170 via the synchronizing bus172.

The image decoder 166 decodes the coded image data according to adecoding method corresponding to the predetermined coding method, suchas MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)2 or MPEG4 so as to generateplayback moving picture data, and supplies the decoded image data to theliquid crystal display 127 via the LCD controller 165. Accordingly,moving picture data contained in the moving picture file linked to asimplified homepage can be displayed.

Simultaneously, the audio codec 170 converts the audio data into ananalog audio signal and supplies it to the speaker 174. Accordingly, theaudio data contained in the moving picture file linked to the simplifiedhomepage can be played back.

The cellular telephone 13 can record data linked to a receivedsimplified homepage on the memory stick 140 via the recorder/player 168in response to a user's operation.

In the individual devices having the above-described configurations, thefunctions for implementing this embodiment are described below. FIG. 7is a functional block diagram of the service provider 2 illustrating thefunctions required for executing the processing described below.

A content-distribution reservation unit 201 accepts reservations orpurchases for the distribution of content from users. A content database202 stores data of the content itself (hereinafter sometimes referred toas “content data”) and data concerning the content data (hereinaftersometimes referred to as “content accompanying data”), for example, thesize and the effective period of the content data, so that the contentdata and the content accompanying data can be associated with eachother.

A destination database 203 stores information concerning users(hereinafter sometimes referred to as “user information”) who have madecontract for the purchase of the content data. Upon receiving a requestto reserve or purchase content data from a user, thecontent-distribution reservation unit 201 determines whether the requestis to be accepted by referring to the content accompanying data storedin the content database 202 and the user information stored in thedestination database 203. If the content-distribution reservation unit201 determines that the request is to be accepted, it outputspredetermined information to a scheduler 204.

The content-distribution reservation unit 201 manages data concerning asite (homepage that can be browsed on the network 1) which acceptsrequests to reserve or purchase predetermined content from users, forexample, the user A (FIG. 1), and provides such data to a user who hasaccessed the site. Then, the user can send a request to reserve orpurchase content by checking the screen based on the data.

The scheduler 204 forms a distribution schedule indicating, for example,when content data requested by the user is provided to the user. Basedon this schedule, a content distributor 105 reads content data from thecontent database 202 and sends it to a user device.

A license issuer 206 issues license data (usage right) for allowing thecontent data to be played back at the user side while preventing theunauthorized use of the content data, and adds the license data to thecontent data. A communication controller 207 controls the sending andreceiving of data in the service provider 2 via the network 1.

The correlation between the service provider 2 shown in FIG. 2 and theservice provider 2 shown in FIG. 7 is as follows. The content data 202and the distribution database 203 are databases stored in the storageunit 48. The portion for storing the data concerning the site managed bythe content-distribution reservation unit 201 may be disposed in thestorage unit 48.

The content-distribution reservation unit 201, the scheduler 204, thecontent distributor 205, and the license issuer 206 are functionsimplemented by starting the corresponding programs stored in the ROM 42or the storage unit 48 and by executing the processing by the CPU 41according to the programs. Accordingly, the programs or data areexpanded and stored in the RAM 43 if necessary.

The communication controller 207 is a function for controlling thesending and receiving of data performed by the communication unit 49.

A description is now given of the functions of the STB 11 for sendingand receiving data to and from the service provider 2 having theabove-described functions. FIG. 8 is a functional block illustratingfunctions of the STB 11 required for sending and receiving data to andfrom the service provider 2 and for performing processing describedbelow. A communication controller 221 controls the sending and receivingof data to and from the service provider 2 via the network 1. The datacontrolled by the communication controller 221 is supplied to adistribution controller 222.

The distribution controller 222 controls the sending and receiving ofcontent data or distribution schedule data to and from the serviceprovider 2. A storage unit 223 stores content data supplied from thedistribution controller 222. A license manager 224 stores license datasupplied from the distribution controller 222, and also manages thestorage of content data in the storage unit 223 or the playbackoperation of content data in a playback unit 226 based on the storedlicense data.

A device ID manager 225 manages a device ID supplied from the serviceprovider 2 as information for identifying the STB 11.

The correlation between the STB 11 shown in FIG. 3 and the STB 11 shownin FIG. 8 is as follows. The communication controller 221 is a functionof controlling the communication in the communication unit 86. Thestorage unit 223, the portion of the license manager 224 for storing thelicense data, and the portion of the device ID manager 225 for storingthe device ID are disposed in the storage unit 85.

The distribution controller 222, the license manager 224, and the deviceID manager 225 are functions implemented by starting the correspondingprograms stored in the ROM 82 or the storage unit 85 and by executingprocessing by the CPU 81 according to the programs. Accordingly, theprograms or data are expanded and stored in the RAM 83 if necessary.

The playback unit 226 is a function executed by the portions related tothe playback operation, such as the demultiplexer 87, the video decoder89, and the audio decoder 90.

The sending and receiving of data performed by the service provider 2and the STB 11 is discussed below. To download content data by the STB11 from the service provider 2, it is necessary that the STB 11 (user A)has made contract with the service provider 2 (or an agent managing theservice provider 2). A description is given below, assuming that adevice ID for identifying the STB 11 is given from the service provider2 by making contract with the service provider 2 and that the STB 11 isregistered in the service provider 2 by receiving the device ID.

A process for registering the STB 11 in the service provider 2 isdiscussed below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9. In step S11,the STB 11 accesses the service provider 2. This access is made via thenetwork 1 by performing a predetermined operation on the STB 11 by theuser A.

Upon receiving an access request from the STB 11 in step S21, theservice provider 2 sends data concerning a registration form in stepS22. Before sending the data concerning the registration form, adetermination may be made as to whether the STB 11 which has accessedthe service provider 2 has already been registered, and if so, theregistration form data may not be sent to the STB 11. To describe theregistration processing, it is now assumed that registration form databe sent.

The processing of step S22 is performed in the content-distributionreservation unit 201 (FIG. 7). That is, a request to access from the STB11, in this case, a registration request, is supplied to thecontent-distribution reservation unit 201 under the control of thecommunication controller 207 of the service provider 2. Thecontent-distribution reservation unit 201 manages data concerning aninitial screen which is always provided when receiving an access requestor an initial screen specially used for registration, and sends the dataas the registration form data.

In step S12, the initial screen data sent from the service provider 2 isreceived by the STB 11. The initial screen data received under thecontrol of the communication controller 221 of the STB 11 is supplied tothe distribution controller 222. When determining that the supplied(sent) data is the initial screen data, the distribution controller 222supplies the data to the playback unit 226.

The playback unit 226 plays back the supplied data. As a result, ascreen, such as that shown in FIG. 10, is displayed on the display of,for example, a television receiver, connected to the STB 11. The screenshown in FIG. 10 is the registration initial screen on which a user IDinput column 251 for inputting a user ID, a password input column 252for inputting a password, and a mail address input column 253 forinputting a mail address are disposed.

The user ID is an ID that can be freely assigned by the user, and is acharacter string having a predetermined number of digits, for example,alphabets, numbers, and kana characters. The password is also acharacter string having a predetermined number of digits that can befreely assigned by the user. The mail address may be an email address ifthe STB 11 has the function of sending and receiving email and isassigned with the corresponding email address.

In order to execute the processing described below, however, it ispreferable that a mail address assigned to a device other than the STB11, for example, a mail address assigned to the PC 12 or the cellulartelephone 13, be input into the mail address input column 253.Accordingly, the item name above the mail address input column 253 maybe more specifically indicated, for example, “mail address of PC orcellular telephone” rather than “mail address” shown in FIG. 10.

Although in this example the user ID, password, and mail address areinput, information other than these items may be input solely ortogether with the above-described items of information. The informationinput into this screen is information that can uniquely identify the STB11, and in this example, the STB 11 of the user A can be distinguishedfrom other STBs (for example, the STB 21 (FIG. 1)) by the user ID.

Since the user ID can uniquely identify the STB 11, the mail address maybe used as the user ID. That is, the mail address may be used foruniquely identifying the STB 11. If the mail address is used as the userID, it is not necessary to provide both the user ID input column 251 andthe mail address input column 253 on the screen of a television receiver241 shown in FIG. 10, and one of the columns suffices.

As stated above, the screen, such as that shown in FIG. 10, is displayedon the television receiver 241 at the user side, and the time when sucha screen is displayed on the television receiver 241 may be determinedas follows. An item “registration” is disposed on the initial screenprovided by the service provider 2, and the screen shown in FIG. 10 maybe displayed when the item “registration” is selected. In this case,basically, data concerning the screen is sent and received between theSTB 11 and the service provider 2 in a manner similar to that describedabove.

It is now assumed that the screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on theuser television receiver 24 and that the user inputs the user ID,password, and mail address.

Referring back to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 9, in stepS13, the user inputs a desired character string into the screen shown inFIG. 10, and the data is then sent to the service provider 2. Uponreceiving the data, such as the user ID, in step S23, the serviceprovider 2 stores the user ID, password, and mail address based on thereceived data in step S24.

The storage processing of step S24 is as follows. The data, such as theuser ID, from the STB 11 is received by the communication controller 207of the service provider 2, and is supplied to the content-distributionreservation unit 201. As discussed above, the content-distributionreservation unit 201 performs registration processing as part of theprocessing.

If the content-distribution reservation unit 201 determines that thedata supplied from the communication controller 207 is from the STB 11(user) which has requested to conduct registration for the first time,it writes (stores) the data into the destination database 203. FIG. 11illustrates an example of the data configuration in the destinationdatabase 203. In the destination database 203, as shown in FIG. 11, thedevice ID, user ID, password, and mail address are stored in associationwith each other. In this case, data, such as that shown in FIG. 11,stored in the destination database 203 is sometimes referred to as a“destination table”.

The device ID is prestored in the destination table. In the destinationtable shown in FIG. 11, numbers 000001 through 999999 are indicated(prepared) as the device IDs in advance. Although in this example thedevice IDs are prestored in the destination table, they may be generatedwhen registration is conducted.

The user ID, password, and mail address received in step S23 are writteninto the corresponding portions of the destination table. It is assumedthat “AIU” is received as the user ID, “XXXX” is received as thepassword, and “ΔΔΔ@z.co.jp” is received as the mail address, and arewritten into the device ID entry “000001”.

After finishing writing (storing) data into the destination database 203in step S24, the device ID is sent in step S25. The device ID sent fromthe service provider 2 in step S25 is the device ID corresponding to theentry into which the information has been written. That is, in thiscase, “000001” is read as the device ID and is sent to the STB 11.

After finishing sending the device ID, the service provider 2 hascompleted the processing for registering the STB 11. Thus, in step S26,the service provider 2 reports to the user of the STB 11 thatregistration has completed.

To report the completion of the registration, a simple message, forexample, “registration has completed”, may be displayed on the screen ofthe television receiver 241 connected to the STB 11. Alternatively,another message or an image may be displayed.

If, for example, the user ID to be registered is already stored in thedestination database 203, a message instructing the user to change theuser ID may be sent together with a message for reminding the user thatregistration is not completed before changing the user ID.

The same user ID is not doubly stored in the destination table in orderto uniquely identify the STB 11 by the user ID, as stated above.Accordingly, processing must be performed for avoiding the doublestorage of the same user ID.

Meanwhile, the STB 11 receives the device ID in step S14, and thenreceives a completion message in step S15. In step S16, the device IDreceived in step S14 is stored in the device ID manager 225 (FIG. 8) ofthe STB 11. Based on the completion message received in step S15, theSTB 11 performs processing, for example, finishing registration orchanging the user ID. If the user ID is changed, the device ID is storedin step S16 only when the changed user ID is accepted in the serviceprovider 2.

When inputting character strings into the columns on the screen shown inFIG. 10, a remote controller (not shown) for giving instructions to theSTB 11 is used. Normally, however, the remote controller is not suitablefor inputting characters. Additionally, the STB 11 may not have afunction of inputting character strings.

Accordingly, as stated above, instead of conducting registration byusing the STB 11, another device suitable for inputting characterstrings may preferably be used for registering the STB 11 in the serviceprovider 2. Then, the user can perform registration processing moreeasily. Accordingly, processing for registering the STB 11 in theservice provider 2 by using the PC 12 as an example of the devicesuitable for inputting characters is described below with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 12.

In step S41, the STB 11 accesses the service provider 2. In step S61,the service provider 2 receives an access request from the STB 11. Theconnection processing between the STB 11 and the service provider 2 isperformed in a manner similar to the processing of steps S11 and S21 ofFIG. 9.

In step S62, the service provider 2 sends a device ID and an alias ID tothe STB 11. The device ID is an ID which is not provided to the userwhile remaining unknown to the user. In contrast, the alias ID is an IDwhich is provided and is known to the user.

A description is given below, assuming that the device ID and the aliasID are supplied from the service provider 2. The device ID and the aliasID are prestored in the service provider 2 so that they can beassociated with each other. Accordingly, the alias ID can uniquelydetermine the device ID.

In step S62, the device ID and the alias ID are sent from the serviceprovider 2 to the STB 11. Then, in step S42, the STB 11 receives thedevice ID and the alias ID under the control of the communicationcontroller 221, and supplies the device ID and the alias ID to thedistribution controller 222. In step S43, the distribution controller222 supplies the device ID and the alias ID to the device ID manager 225and the device ID manager 225 manages (stores) them.

After storing the device ID and the alias ID in the device ID manager225, in step S44, the stored alias ID is sent (provided) to the PC 12.The provision of the alias ID to the PC 12 may be performed directly orindirectly.

A description is first given of the case where the alias ID is provideddirectly from the STB 11 to the PC 12. When, for example, the STB 11 andthe PC 12 are connected via a home network, the alias ID is sent andreceived via this network. The sending and receiving of the alias ID canbe performed, for example, when the alias ID is stored in the STB 11 orwhen the PC 12 is started. Alternatively, as stated below, when the PC12 accesses (is connected to) the service provider 2, it may obtain thealias ID stored in the STB 11 via the home network.

Alternatively, the alias ID may be sent from the STB 11 to the PC 11 byemail. In whichever manner, the alias ID is sent and received directlyfrom the STB 11 to the PC 12.

A description is now given of the case where the alias ID is providedindirectly from the STB 11 to the PC 12. For example, when the alias IDis stored in the STB 11, a message for informing the user that the aliasID is stored, and the stored alias ID are displayed on the screen of thetelevision receiver 24 connected to the STB 11. The user writes thealias ID displayed on the television receiver 24 on a medium, forexample, paper.

The user then stores the alias ID written on the paper in the PC 12(inputs the alias ID into the predetermined column, as described below).The alias ID can be stored when, for example, the PC 12 accesses (isconnected to) the service provider 2.

Methods for providing the alias ID from the STB 11 to the PC 12 can beconsidered as described above. Thus, the timing of receiving the aliasID by the PC 12 may be before or after step S52 shown in FIG. 12, andsuch a timing can be changed according to the provision method for thealias ID.

Since the PC 12 has been taken by way of example to perform theabove-described processing, the above methods for providing the alias IDcan be considered. If the cellular telephone 13 performs the processing,an image of the alias ID may be captured by the CCD camera 126 (FIG. 5)of the cellular telephone 13, and the captured image of the alias ID isidentified and stored by the processing of the cellular telephone 13.

In a device provided with an image capturing unit, such as the CCDcamera 126, code for providing information, i.e., so-called“two-dimensional barcode”, may be used for providing the alias ID to theuser device.

Regardless of the timing of providing the alias ID from the STB 11 tothe PC 12 (or cellular telephone 13), the PC 12 starts accessing theservice provider 2 in step S52 after the alias ID is stored in the STB11. As stated above, the service provider 2 manages a site that can bebrowsed on the network 1. The user operates the PC 12 to browse thesite.

When the PC 12 is ready to browse the site managed by the serviceprovider 2, the service provider 2 sends registration form data to thePC 12 in step S64. The PC 12 receives the registration form data in stepS53. Then, the registration screen based on the received data isdisplayed on the display unit, which serves as the output unit 107 ofthe PC 12 (FIG. 4).

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of the registration form displayed on adisplay unit 261 of the PC 12. In the configuration of the registrationform displayed on the display unit 261 shown in FIG. 13, an alias IDinput column 254 for inputting the alias ID is added to the registrationform displayed on the television receiver 241 shown in FIG. 10.

The user operates the keyboard (not shown), which serves as the inputunit 106 of the PC 12, to input information (character strings) into theindividual columns of the registration form shown in FIG. 13. If thealias ID of the STB 11 is already obtained, it may be automaticallydisplayed in the alias ID input column 254 without the need for the userto input it.

Normally, the PC 12 is provided with a keyboard, which is suitable forinputting character strings, as the input unit 106, and thus, the PC 12is more suitable for inputting character strings required for theregistration form than the STB 11. Accordingly, it is advantageous andeasy for the user to perform registration processing of the STB 11 inthe service provider 2 by using the PC 12, which is a different devicefrom the STB 11.

When various items of information are input into the predeterminedcolumns of the registration screen shown in FIG. 13, in step S54, theinformation is sent to the service provider 2 from the PC 12. Uponreceiving the information from the PC 12 in step S65, the serviceprovider 2 stores the information in step S66. After the storage of theinformation, the service provider 2 reports to the PC 12 in step S67that the registration has completed.

Upon receiving a registration completion report from the serviceprovider 2, the PC 12 performs corresponding processing in step S55; forexample, it displays a message for informing the user that theregistration processing has completed on the display unit 261.

A description has been given, assuming that the processing between theSTB 11, the PC 12, and the service provider 2 shown in FIG. 12 isperformed only once. However, it may be repeated a plurality of times,in which case, user IDs and passwords that are different among familymembers can be registered in one terminal. In other words, a pluralityof users can be registered in the STB 11.

The registration of a plurality of users in a single device can beimplemented by repeatedly performing the processing between the STB 11,the PC 12, and the service provider 2 shown in FIG. 12. In this case,the processing may be repeated continuously, and or it may be performedat time intervals. As described below, however, if the alias ID isdeleted (changed), the processing must be performed before changing thealias ID. However, if the alias ID is not changed, or if the userregistration can be conducted by information other than the alias ID,the above-described restriction can be eliminated.

Referring back to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 12, thestorage processing in step S66 and the registration completion report instep S67 performed by the service provider 2 are basically similar tosteps S24 and S26, respectively, of FIG. 9, and step S67 executed by thePC 12 is basically similar to step S26 executed by the STB 11 in FIG. 9,and an explanation thereof is thus omitted.

On the other hand, the storage processing conducted in step S66 by theservice provider 2 is slightly different from that of step S24 in FIG.9, and thus, the processing different from that of step S24 is explainedbelow. The destination table of the destination database 203 (FIG. 7) inthe service provider 2 when the processing is performed according to theflowchart of FIG. 12 is shown in FIG. 14.

In the destination table of the destination database 203 shown in FIG.14, a column into which the “alias ID” is written is added to thedestination table shown in FIG. 11. As discussed above, the alias ID isassociated with the device ID and thus uniquely determines the deviceID. The alias ID is an ID that is provided to the user by being known tothe user. Accordingly, in the destination table, the alias ID has beenwritten in association with the device ID.

The service provider 2 manages a destination table, such as that shownin FIG. 14, and information sent to the STB 11 in the processing of stepS62 (FIG. 12) is only the device ID and the corresponding alias ID inthe destination table. That is, a set of the device ID and the alias IDare provided to the STB 11 before the PC 12 accesses the serviceprovider 2.

In this state, the service provider 2 receives information, such as theuser ID, password, mail address, and alias ID, from the PC 12 of theuser under the control of the communication controller 207, and thereceived information is then supplied to the content-distributionreservation unit 201.

The content-distribution reservation unit 201 reads the alias ID fromthe supplied information, and then, checks the destination table, whichis managed by the destination database 203, to determine the entry ofthe destination table into which the read alias ID is written.

The content-distribution reservation unit 201 writes the supplied userID, password, and mail address into the determined entry of thedestination table. In this manner, the information of each user that hassent a request to register him/her is written into the correspondingentry of the destination table, such as that shown in FIG. 14.

As discussed above, by providing an ID, i.e., the alias ID, registrationprocessing can be performed by using a device (in this case, the PC 12)other than a device (in this case, the STB 11) that has sent a requestto register it without the need to make sensitive information, i.e., thedevice ID, known to the user.

Basically, the number of device IDs is limited. The flowchart of FIG. 12shows that, after the device ID is stored in the STB 11 in step S43, theuser does not always register the STB 11 in the service provider 2 byusing a device, for example, the PC 12. In other words, the destinationtable may be left for a long period without having the user informationwritten into the entry corresponding to the device ID assigned to theSTB 11.

This means that some device IDs may remain unused. Accordingly, thefollowing function may be provided for the service provider 2. That is,if registration is not conducted within a predetermined period after thedevice ID is stored in the STB 11, such a device ID is allocated toanother device. Then, the device IDs can be efficiently allocated.

In this case, the service provider 2 first detects device IDs thatremain unused for a predetermined period without conducting registrationprocessing (without writing information, such as the user ID, into thecorresponding entry even though a set of the device ID and the alias IDare provided). As a result of detection, the service provider 2 changesthe alias IDs associated with the device IDs that have expired.

In this manner, by changing the alias IDs, even if the user of the STB11 storing the previous alias ID performs registration processing afterthe predetermined period, the registration is not accepted because theprevious alias ID is different from the current alias ID. Also, bychanging the alias ID, the changed alias ID can be provided to anotherSTB, thereby achieving the effective use of the device IDs.

After registering the STB 11 in the service provider 2 according to theflowchart of FIG. 12, there are two items of information, i.e., thealias ID (information 1) and the user ID (information 2), as informationfor uniquely determining the device ID assigned to the STB 11.Accordingly, after registering the STB 11 in the service provider 2, thedevice ID may be determined by using either information 1 or information2.

By taking this into consideration, if the user ID as information 2determines the device ID, the alias ID as information 1 does not have tobe stored (managed) in the destination table (FIG. 14). Accordingly,alias IDs corresponding to user information, such as user IDs, whichhave already been written into the corresponding entries afterconducting registration processing may be deleted. With thisarrangement, the deleted alias IDs can be associated with other deviceIDs, thereby making it possible to reuse the alias IDs.

Basically, many device IDs must be prepared for conducting contract withmany users (devices). In order to avoid the use of the same ID,character strings having many number of digits are used. If the deviceIDs and alias IDs are associated with each other based on a one-to-onecorrespondence, the same number of alias IDs as that of the device IDsmust be prepared, and character strings having the number of digitssimilar to that of the device IDs must be used.

However, the alias ID is provided to the user, and the userhimself/herself may have to input the corresponding character string.Considering that the user may have to input the alias ID, the smallnumber of digits of the character string is preferable.

As stated above, if the alias IDs can be reused, the number of alias IDsthat should be prepared can be smaller than the number of device IDs(i.e., the device IDs and the alias IDs do not have to be associatedbased on one-to-one correspondence). Thus, the number of alias IDs canbe reduced. If the number of alias IDs is small, the alias IDs can beallocated while avoiding the use of the same IDs even if the number ofdigits of the character strings forming the alias IDs is smaller.

A further description of the alias IDs is given. It can be considered,for example, as shown in FIG. 1, that the user A owns a plurality ofdevices, such as the STB 11, the PC 12, and the cellular telephone 13,for receiving content data. That is, it can be considered that one userowns a plurality of devices for receiving content data. In this case,the user performs the above-described registration processing for eachdevice.

As a result, the user has to register the alias ID, user ID, password,and mail address for each device. When the device ID can be uniquelydetermined by the user ID, as described above, the same user ID cannotbe registered even for the same user. Accordingly, when registering aplurality of devices, the user has to register them with a plurality ofuser IDs and also to memorize them. Even if the device ID is uniquelydetermined by the alias ID, the user also has to memorize a plurality ofalias IDs.

This is not convenient for the user. Accordingly, to improve the ease ofuse, the following processing is performed. The following processing isnot necessary if a condition, for example, that one user can registeronly one device in the service provider 2, is given.

As discussed above, after a predetermined device is registered in theservice provider 2, the alias ID assigned to the device does not have tobe managed by the service provider 2. Accordingly, if the alias ID canbe changed by the user side, the ease of use for the user can beenhanced.

In this case, it is assumed that the STB 11 already stores the device IDand the alias ID and that the PC 12 stores (obtains) the alias IDassigned to the STB 11. The process up to the storage (obtaining)processing is performed in a manner similar to the process between theSTB 11 and the service provider 2 indicated by the flowchart of FIG. 12,and an explanation thereof is thus omitted.

The processing for registering the STB 11 in the service provider 2 bythe PC 12 is described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 15.Steps S81 through S83 of the PC 12 and steps S91 through S93 of theservice provider 2 are similar to steps S52 through S54 and steps S63through S65, respectively, of the flowchart of FIG. 12, and anexplanation thereof is thus omitted.

Upon receiving the user ID, password, mail address, and also the aliasID assigned to the STB 11 from the PC 12 in step S93, the serviceprovider 2 conducts user authentication (password check) in step S94. Inthis case, such authentication is conducted since the user who hasalready been registered accesses the service provider 2 to change thealias ID into a terminal name.

If it is determined in step S94 that the same user ID as the receiveduser ID is stored in the destination table and that the passwordcoincides with the stored password, i.e., if it is determined that userauthentication has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S95 in whichdata concerning a changing form is read. The changing form is a form forchanging the alias ID into a terminal name. The terminal name is a nameassigned to the device that has been registered (in this case, the STB11) by the user.

If it is determined in step S94 that the same user ID as the receiveduser ID is not stored in the destination table, and that the passworddoes not coincide with stored password, i.e., if it is determined thatuser authentication has failed, the process proceeds to step S96 inwhich data concerning a re-input form is read. The re-input form is aform for instructing the user to re-input the user ID and password byassuming that the user authentication has failed because the user ID orpassword has been wrongly input.

In step S97, the read changing form or re-input form data is sent to thePC 12. In step S84, the data is received by the PC 12. The PC 12displays a screen, such as that shown in FIG. 16 or 17, on the displayunit 261 as the screen based on the received data. The screen shown inFIG. 16 is for changing the alias ID based on the changing form data.The screen shown in FIG. 17 is for re-inputting information based on there-input form data.

On the changing screen shown in FIG. 16, a column 281 for indicating thealias ID before being changed and a column 282 for inputting a terminalname after being changed are provided. On the re-input screen shown inFIG. 17, columns for inputting the user ID and password are provided.

As the alias ID indicated in the column 282 on the screen shown in FIG.16, the alias ID received and stored in step S93 is attached to and senttogether with the changing form data sent from the service provider 2 instep S97. With this arrangement, the screen with the input alias ID canbe displayed on the display unit 261 of the user PC 12.

The user inputs a desired name into the column 282 of the screen shownin FIG. 16. For example, in this case, since the STB 11 is to beregistered in the service provider 2, the name “STB” is input into thecolumn 282. Characters may be input into the column 282 so that the usercan input a desired name. Alternatively, the user may select a desiredname from a pull-down menu.

The user inputs (selects) a desired terminal name on the screen, such asthat shown in FIG. 16, or inputs other information if necessary, andthen, the information is sent to the service provider 2 from the PC 12in step S84. In step S98, the service provider 2 then receives dataconcerning the above-described change from the PC 12.

If the user ID and password are re-input into the screen, such as thatshown in FIG. 17, step S94 and the subsequent steps are repeated in theservice provider 2.

The service provider 2 performs processing for changing the data in stepS99, and stores the changed data in step S100. The changing and storageprocessing is performed by determining the corresponding entry in thedestination table from the received alias ID before being changed and bywriting the changed terminal name into the corresponding portion of thecolumn into which the alias ID is written.

In the above-described description, the alias ID is rewritten into theterminal name. However, the terminal name may be added while the aliasID remains being stored. In this case, the alias ID may be used in theprocessing described below.

When storing the information after being changed in the service provider2, the service provider 2 sends a completion report to the PC 12 in stepS101. The processing of step S101 and the corresponding processing ofstep S85 of the PC 12 are similar to the processing of step S67 and thecorresponding processing of step S55 of the PC 12 in FIG. 12, and anexplanation thereof is thus omitted.

The destination table stored in the destination database 203 of theservice provider 2 after performing the processing based on theflowchart of FIG. 15 can be schematically shown in FIG. 18. In theexample of the destination table shown in FIG. 18, the user having auser ID “AIU”, a password “XXXX”, and a mail address “ΔΔΔ@z.co.jp” hastwo devices, such as an “STB” and a “PC”. The device ID “000001” isallocated to the device “STB”, and the device ID “010021” is allocatedto the device “PC”.

The user having a user ID “KAKIKU”, a password “◯◯◯◯”, and a mailaddress “ΔXΔ@x.co.jp” has three devices, such as a “personal computer”,an “STB”, and a “cellular telephone”. The device ID “001234” isallocated to the device “personal computer”, the device ID “001235” isallocated to the device “STB”, and the device ID “001236” is allocatedto the device “cellular telephone”.

In this manner, a plurality of devices (terminal names) are associatedwith one user ID, and the device ID is associated with each device. Byusing such a destination table, a single user can receive (purchase)content data by using a desired device selected from a plurality ofdevices with the same user ID. A description is given below of theprocessing for purchasing content data by using the destination tableshown in FIG. 18 by way of example.

The processing for purchasing content data from the service provider 2by a device storing the device ID therein is first discussed withreference to the flowchart of FIG. 19. In this description, the STB 11is taken as an example of the device storing the device ID, and the STB11 purchases content data from the service provider 2.

In step S121, the STB 11 starts accessing the service provider 2. Theaccess is made in response to a user instruction. In step S131, theservice provider 2 receives an access request from the STB 11.

If the service provider 2 determines that the access request from theSTB 11 is a request to purchase content data, in step S132, it sendsinformation concerning content data to the STB 11 that has made theaccess request. The data sent in this step is content accompanying datastored in the content database 202. FIG. 20 illustrates an example ofthe configuration of the content accompanying data stored in the contentdatabase 202.

The content accompanying data is information indicating the content ID,which is assigned to each item of content data, for uniquely determiningthe content data, the size of the content data, the fee for purchasingthe content data, and details of the content provided by the contentdata.

Upon receiving the data from the service provider 2 in step S122, theSTB 11 displays a screen based on the received data on the televisionreceiver 241 connected to the STB 11. The user checks the screendisplayed on the television receiver 241 to determine content data to bepurchased.

When the user determines the content data to be purchased, the contentID assigned to the determined content data is sent to the serviceprovider 2 together with the device ID. The device ID managed by thedevice ID manager 225 of the STB 11 is read and is sent together withthe content ID.

In step S133, the service provider 2 receives the data from the STB 11.In step S134, the service provider 2 extracts the device ID contained inthe received data. The service provider 2 then determines based on theextracted device ID whether the device having the device ID is anauthorized device for purchasing the requested content data by checkingthe data stored in the destination database 203 and the contentaccompanying data stored in the content database 202.

If it is determined in step S134 that the purchasing of the content datais permitted, the process proceeds to step S135. If it is determined instep S134 that the purchasing of the content data is not permitted, theprocess for purchasing content data shown in FIG. 19 is terminated. Ifit is determined in step S134 that the purchasing of the content data isnot permitted, a message indicating that the purchasing of the contentdata is not permitted is preferably sent to the user.

In step S135, the content data and the license data are sent to the STB11 based on a schedule formed by the scheduler 204. Although details aregiven below, the scheduler 204 determines the timing of sending thecontent data to the user, and forms a schedule based on thedetermination result and controls the content data to be sent based onthe schedule.

When sending the content data, the scheduler 204 instructs the licenseissuer 206 to issue license data. The license data is data concerningusage conditions containing data for preventing unauthorized copying orplayback operation, and is provided to the user together with thecontent data.

The license issuer 206 stores a table containing data shown in FIG. 21,namely, the license ID, usage conditions identified by the license ID,and content ID subjected to the usage conditions associated with eachother. The usage conditions include conditions, such as purchase,rental, one-time copy.

One license ID is assigned to one usage condition, and a plurality ofcontent IDs can be associated with one license ID. This makes itpossible to apply the same usage condition to a plurality of items ofcontent. One license ID may be associated with a plurality of usageconditions. That is, one license data may be generated by a combinationof a plurality of usage conditions, and one license ID may be assignedto such license data.

By using such data, the license issuer 206 issues license data. Thecontent accompanying data shown in FIG. 20 and the license data shown inFIG. 21 are examples only, and other data may be added and stored, andsuch added data may be used to perform processing described below.

The scheduler 204 forms a schedule from the content accompanying datastored in the content database 202 and the data stored in the licenseissuer 206. One example of the schedule formed is shown in FIG. 22.

Every time a request to send content data is made, a schedulecorresponding to the request is formed. The transaction ID foridentifying each schedule is disposed at the head of the schedule.

The content ID for identifying the content requested by the user is readfrom the content database 202 (FIG. 20) and is associated with thetransaction ID. The license ID corresponding to the usage conditionapplied to the content requested by the user is read from the licenseissuer 206 and is associated with the transaction ID. The destination IDis the device ID assigned to the device specified by the user as thedestination of the content data, and is read from the destinationdatabase 203 if necessary.

The billing user ID is the user ID to which a fee for purchasing thecontent data is charged. As the distribution time, the time specified bythe user is basically set. If the user has not specified the time or ifthe content data cannot be sent at the time specified by the user, thetime specified by the service provider 2 is set. In the distributionstatus, information concerning the distribution status, for example,“not yet distributed”, “now distributing”, or “distributed”, is written.

The content data is sent based on such a schedule. In this case, if therequest is made from the STB 11 and there is no request (necessity) tosend the content data later, the service provider 2 can respond to thisrequest immediately, and thus, the time at which the schedule was formedmay be written into the distribution time in the schedule.

The communication controller 207 sends the content data and the licensedata (usage conditions) to the STB 11 based on the schedule formed bythe scheduler 204.

In step S124, the STB 11 receives the data from the service provider 2.In step S125, the STB 11 stores the received data. In this storageprocessing, the data received under the control of the communicationcontroller 221 is first supplied to the distribution controller 222. Thedistribution controller 222 supplies the content data of the supplieddata to the storage unit 223, and supplies the license data to thelicense manager 224.

The storage unit 223 and the license manager 224 store the supplied datatherein. In this manner, the content data is purchased by the STB 11.Although a description of billing is not given, when the purchaseprocessing is performed, billing processing is also performed by theservice provider 2. Also in the following description, when the purchaseprocessing for content data is performed, billing processing is alsoperformed.

A description is now given, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 23,of the processing when the PC 12 purchases content data and the STB 11stores the purchased content data. In this case, the device forpurchasing the content data and the device for storing the purchasedcontent data are different. The overall processing is schematicallydiscussed first, and then, details of the processing in each device aregiven.

Steps S151 through S153 of the PC 12 are basically similar to steps S121through S123 of the STB 11 of FIG. 19, and steps S161 through S163 ofthe service provider 2 corresponding to steps S151 through S153 arebasically similar to steps S131 and S132 of the service provider 2 ofFIG. 19, and an explanation thereof is thus omitted.

In step S153, however, only the content ID for identifying the contentdata that the user has decided to purchase is sent from the PC 12, andthe device ID is not sent from the PC 12. This is because the device IDis an ID assigned to and managed by the STB 11 and cannot be sent fromthe PC 12.

Upon receiving the data from the PC 12 in step S163, the serviceprovider 2 sends purchase form data to the PC 12 in step S164. Sincethere is no device ID in the received data, the service provider 2determines that a request to purchase content data has been sent from adevice without a device ID. The service provider 2 then sends purchaseform data to request the PC 12 to send information for the destinationdevice of the purchased content data and for checking whether the useris an authorized user.

Upon receiving the purchase form data in step S154, the PC 12 displays apurchasing screen based on the data on the display unit 261. The userchecks the screen to input required items, for example, the user ID andpassword. In step S155, the input user ID and password data are sentfrom the PC 12 to the service provider 2.

Upon receiving the data from the PC 12 in step S165, the serviceprovider 2 stores the received data and also performs scheduling basedon the data in step S166. Although details are given below, passwordauthentication or the checking of the destination device of content datais conducted when performing scheduling, such as that shown in FIG. 22.It is now assumed that such processing has completed and the processproceeds to step S167.

In step S167, the service provider 2 performs content purchaseprocessing, that is, the service provider 2 reports to the user that therequest to purchase content has been accepted. Upon receiving such areport in step S156, the user PC 12 performs processing based on thisreport, for example, the PC 12 displays a message such as “contentpurchase request has been accepted” on the display unit 261.

Meanwhile, in step S181, the STB 11 queries the service provider 2 as toa schedule. The STB 11 queries the service provider as to whether aschedule for the STB 11 (schedule in which the STB 11 is specified asthe destination of the content data) has been formed. Such a query ismade, for example, every hour, from the STB 11 to the service provider2. In this case, it is assumed that, as a result of performing theabove-described processing, the STB 11 makes a query to the serviceprovider 2 after a schedule for the STB 11 has been formed and that thequery is received by the service provider 2 in step S168.

If the service provider 2 determines that there is a schedule for theSTB 11 in response to the query from the STB 11, it sends the schedulefor the STB 11 in step S169. To make the above determination, the STB 11sends the device ID when making a query, and the service provider 2determines whether a schedule associated with the device ID has beenformed (stored) by the scheduler 204.

The schedule sent from the service provider 2 in step S169 is receivedby the STB 11 in step S182. The received schedule contains informationconcerning the sending due time. When the due time reaches, the STB 11requests the service provider 2 to send the content data. Upon receivingthis request in step S170, the service provider 2 responds to therequest and starts sending the content data in step S171.

When the sending of the content data is started, the service provider 2reports to the PC 12 that the sending of the purchased content data tothe STB 11 is started in step S172. When the sending of the content datato the STB 11 is finished (step S173), the service provider 2 reports tothe PC 12 that the sending of the content data is finished. The reportfrom the service provider 2 to the PC 12 is conducted by, for example,email.

The STB 11 stores the content data in step S185.

As described above, the content purchasing processing is performed inthe PC 12, and the purchased content data is stored in the STB 11.

Then, details of the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 23 arediscussed for each device. For the processing of the PC 12, the PC 12basically repeats processing for displaying the screen based on the datareceived from the service provider 2 and sending information input intothe screen, and an explanation of such processing is thus omitted. Ifnecessary, however, the processing of the PC 12 is discussed togetherwith the processing of the service provider 2.

The processing for purchasing content (processing for communicating withthe PC 12) by the service provider 2 is described below with referenceto the flowchart of FIG. 24. In step S201, the service provider 2determines whether access has been made from another device. The serviceprovider 2 repeats step S201 in the standby mode until it determinesthat access has been made from another device.

If it is determined in step S201 that access has been made from anotherdevice, the process proceeds to step S202. In step S202, contentaccompanying data is read from the content database 202 and is sent tothe device that has made access. After sending the content accompanyingdata, the service provider 2 remains in the standby mode until the userdecides desired content and receives the content ID of the decidedcontent.

The content accompanying data sent to another device (for example, PC12) from the service provider 2 contains the content IDs. At least thecontent ID of the content that the user has decided to purchase is sentto the service provider 2 and is received as a request to purchasecontent from the user. The service provider 2 determines in step S203whether such a content purchase request has been received from the user.

The service provider 2 remains in the standby mode until it determinesthat a content purchase request has been received, and when it isreceived, the process proceeds to step S204. In step S204, it isdetermined whether the device ID is contained in the received contentpurchase request.

As stated above, when a purchase request is made from a device toreceive the content data (device that has obtained and stored the deviceID), such as the STB 11, the device ID is sent together with the contentID. However, when a purchase request is made from a device that does notreceive the content data (device that has not obtained the device ID),such as the PC 11 or the cellular telephone 13, only the content ID issent.

Accordingly, in step S204, it is determined whether the received request(data) contains the device ID. As a result of this determination, it canalso be determined whether the device that has sent a content purchaserequest has already been registered as the device that can receive thecontent data.

The process may be modified that step S204 is omitted to always send apurchase form. This is to respond to a user's desire: when the PC 12 hasobtained and stored the device ID assigned to the PC 12, the userperforms processing for purchasing the content data by using the PC 12but wishes to store the purchased content data in the STB 11.Alternatively, processing for instructing the user to specify thedestination of the purchased content data in another manner may beadded.

If it is determined in step S204 that the received data does not containthe device ID, the process proceeds to step S205 in which purchase formdata is sent. The purchase form data is data for displaying a screen,such as that shown in FIG. 25, on a user device, for example, thedisplay unit 261 of the PC 12.

On the screen based on the purchase form data, as shown in FIG. 25, acolumn for inputting a user ID and a column for inputting a password areprovided. The reason for inputting the user ID and password is tospecify the device ID by the user ID and to conduct user authenticationby the password. If the alias ID is still stored in the destinationtable of the service provider 2, it may also be sent and received.

When the user inputs the user ID and password by referring to the screenshown in FIG. 25, the information is sent to the service provider 2, andthe service provider 2 receives information concerning the user ID andpassword in step S206. The service provider 2 specifies the device IDfrom the received user ID in step S207.

A destination table, such as that shown in FIG. 18, is stored in thedestination database 203 of the service provider 2, and the device ID isspecified by referring to this table. For example, if the received userID is “AIU” and the password is “XXXX”, two device IDs “000001” and“010021” can be specified, as shown in FIG. 18.

It is then determined in step S208 whether plural device IDs have beenspecified. Since two device IDs can be specified in the above-describedsituation, the result of step S208 becomes YES, and the process proceedsto step S209. In step S209, data concerning a destination determinationform is sent. The destination determination form data is data fordisplaying the screen for instructing the user to select (determine) thedevice by and in which the content data is to be received and stored.

The data indicating the destination determination form includes at leastthe terminal names (FIG. 18) corresponding to the device IDs specifiedin step S207. FIG. 26 is an example of the screen displayed on a devicein which purchase processing is currently performed, for example, on thedisplay unit 261 of the PC 12. If the processing is performed based onthe destination table shown in FIG. 18, the terminal names “STB” and“PC” corresponding to the device IDs “000001” and “010021” are displayedon the screen shown in FIG. 26. Radio buttons for selecting the terminalnames are provided before the terminal names.

In this manner, if the user who has sent a content purchase request hadregistered a plurality of devices as the devices for receiving thecontent data, the device for storing (downloading) the purchased contentdata can be selected with the terminal name assigned by the user.Information concerning the terminal name selected by referring to thescreen shown in FIG. 26 is sent to the service provider 2.

As the downloading device, only one device may be selected by the user,or a plurality of devices may be selected by the user. Such setting ismade by the service provider 2 according to the billing processing.

In step S210, the service provider 2 receives information concerning theterminal name selected as the downloading device. By receiving theterminal name information, the service provider 2 can specify the deviceID of the device for receiving the purchased content data.

In step S211, the received data is stored, and scheduling based on thedata is conducted. Scheduling is to generate data for the requestedcontent, such as that configured as shown in FIG. 22, by the scheduler204.

Step S211 is always executed to perform scheduling even when it isdetermined in step S204 that the device ID is contained in the receivedrequest (data) or when it is determined in step S208 that the specifieddevice ID is only one. In any case, when only one device ID of thedevice for receiving the content data is specified, scheduling isperformed.

When performing scheduling, information concerning the contentdistribution time must be obtained. Accordingly, for example, as shownin FIG. 26, a message “please input the time and date you wish toreceive content” is displayed on the screen of the display unit 261 ofthe user, and a column for allowing the user to input a desired time maybe provided under the message. When the time is input into this column,it can be set as the sending due time.

In this case, if the user does not designate the distribution time, theservice provider 2 can set the time and writes it. Alternatively, onlythe service provider 2 may be able to set the distribution time withoutallowing the user to specify the time.

When performing scheduling, it is determined whether the user who hassent a request to purchase content data is an authorized user who canreceive the services provided by the service provider 2, and only whenthe user is an authorized user, scheduling is performed. To determinewhether the user is an authorized user, it is determined whether thereceived password is registered in the destination table in associationwith the user ID.

After finishing performing scheduling, in step S212, it is reported tothe user device that the purchase request has been accepted. Thepurchase processing in the service provider 2 has completed.

A description is now given, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 27,of processing (processing with the STB 11 in the above description) forsending content data by the service provider 2. In step S231, theservice provider 2 determines whether there is a query concerningschedules or a request to send content data.

The service provider 2 remains in the standby mode until it determinesin step S231 that there is a query or request from another device. Whenit is determined that there is a query or request from another device,the process proceeds to step S232. It is determined in step S232 whetherthe query or request from another device is about schedules. If it isdetermined in step S232 that the query is about schedules, the processproceeds to step S233.

It is determined in step S233 whether a schedule corresponding to thedevice ID of the device that has queried about schedules has been formedand stored by the scheduler 204. Another device (for example, the STB11) queries the service provider 2 as to the schedules at regularintervals, and when making a query, the device sends the device ID.

Accordingly, the service provider 2 determines by using the receiveddevice ID whether a schedule for the device ID is stored in thescheduler 204. The scheduler 204 stores a plurality of schedules havinga data structure, such as that shown in FIG. 22. The service provider 2checks the “destination device ID” in the data of the schedule todetermine whether there is the “destination device ID” which coincideswith the received device ID.

If it is determined in step S233 that there is no schedule concerningthe received device ID (device), the process returns to step S231, andstep S231 and the subsequent steps are repeated. If it is determined instep S233 that there is a schedule concerning the received device ID,the process proceeds to step S234. In step S234, the correspondingschedule is read from the scheduler 204 and is sent to the device thathas made a query.

The schedule read in step S234 should be a schedule whose “distributionstatus” (FIG. 22) indicates that the content data has not been sent.Even if the “distribution status” indicates that the content data hasnot been sent, the schedule itself may have already been sent. In thiscase, it is not necessary to send the same schedule again, and thus,such a schedule does not have to be read.

To prevent the same schedule from being re-sent, a flag, for example,indicating whether the schedule has been sent, may be prepared, and thisflag may be contained in the schedule shown in FIG. 22 as one item ofdata, or may be contained in the “distribution status”.

Upon completing the sending of the schedule in step S234, the processreturns to step S231, and step S231 and the subsequent steps arerepeated.

If it is determined in step S232 that the query or request from anotherdevice is not about schedules, i.e., that the query or request is abouta request to send content data, the process proceeds to step S235. Instep S235, the sending of the requested content data is started.

When sending a request to send content data, the device (for example,the STB 11) sends at least information concerning the transaction IDtogether with the request. By receiving the transaction ID, the serviceprovider 2 can specify which schedule is to be executed among theschedules stored in the scheduler 204.

By specifying the schedule to be executed, the content ID of the contentto be sent can be specified. The content data associated with thecontent ID is read from the content database (FIG. 7) and is sent.

Upon starting sending the content data in step S235, it is reported tothe predetermined device at the user side in step S236 that the sendingof the content data is started. The predetermined device is a device towhich the mail address (FIG. 18) registered in the destination table ofthe service provider 2 is assigned.

It is determined in step S237 whether the whole content data has beensent, i.e., whether the sending has finished. Step S237 is repeateduntil it is determined that the sending of the content data hasfinished. When it is determined that the sending of the content data hasfinished, the process proceeds to step S238.

When sending content data, license data is also sent. Content datacannot be played back without the license data. For example, whensending content data to the user device, it is encrypted, and data fordecrypting the content data is contained in the license data.Accordingly, both the content data and license data must be sent to theuser (STB 11). The timing of sending the content data does not have tobe the same as that of sending the license data. That is, the contentdata and license data may be sent simultaneously, or may be sent atdifferent times (differently).

For example, since the data amount of content data is relatively large,it may be sent at a time when transmission lines are not busy, forexample, at night, and license data having a relatively small dataamount may be sent before or after the time when the content data issent and before the user views the content data.

In step S238, the “distribution status” information in the data of theschedule shown in FIG. 18 is overwritten by the information indicatingthat the sending of the content data has finished. Instead ofoverwriting the information, the corresponding schedule may be deleted.The reason for overwriting the “distribution status” information by theinformation indicating that the sending of the content data has finishedis to perform billing processing. Thus, when billing processing isfinished, the corresponding schedule may be deleted.

In step S239, it is reported that the sending of the content data hascompleted. This report processing may be performed in a manner similarto that of step S236.

As described above, the service provider 2 controls the processing forsending content data. Steps S236 and S239 for report processing are notalways necessary. Neither of the steps may be performed, or one of thesteps may be executed.

In response to the processing by the service provider 2, processing forreceiving content data is described below with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 28. This processing is discussed in the context of theSTB 11.

In step S251, the STB 11 determines whether it is time to query theservice provider 2 as to schedules. It is set that the STB 11 makes aquery at predetermined time intervals, for example, every hour.

It is determined whether it is time to make a query after the lapse ofthe predetermined time interval. If it is determined in step S251 thatit is time to make a query, the device ID is read from the device IDmanager 225 (FIG. 8) and is sent to the service provider 2 in step S252.When the device ID is sent, the above-described processing is performedin the service provider 2. When the schedule information is sent as aresult of this processing, the schedule is received in step S253.

The received schedule is stored in, for example, the distributioncontroller 222 (FIG. 8). The schedule stored (sent) includes at leastinformation concerning the transaction ID and the distribution time. Instep S254, the distribution controller 222 checks the “distributiontime” in the stored schedule to determine whether the distribution timehas reached. That is, the STB 11 determines whether it is time to send arequest to send content data.

Step S254 is repeated until it is determined that it is time to send arequest to send content data, and if it is determined that it is time tosend a request to send content data, the process proceeds to step S255.In step S255, the transaction ID is read and is sent to the serviceprovider 2.

As a result of sending the transaction ID, the content data is sent fromthe service provider 2. In step S256, the content data is received bythe STB 11 and is stored.

As discussed above, the STB 11 stores content data for which thepurchase processing has been performed by using another device.

The device (in this case, the STB 11) that receives content data canquery the service provider 2 as to schedules or can send a request tosend content data to the service provider 2. This is because the STB 11is not always ready to receive schedules or content data.

In other words, the STB 11 is not always powered ON, but it may bepowered OFF. If schedules or content data is sent from the serviceprovider 2 when the STB 11 is powered OFF, the STB 11 cannot receive orstore the schedules or content data. By considering this, the STB 11queries about the schedules or sends a request to send content data.

If the STB 11 is always powered ON or if it has a function of receivingcontent data even when it is powered OFF, the service provider 2 maysend a schedule to the STB 11 upon creating the schedule. The contentdata may also be sent from the service provider 2 when the distributiontime has reached without the need for the STB 11 to send a request.

Although in the above-described embodiment the PC 12 performs purchaseprocessing and the content data is downloaded to the STB 11, thecellular telephone 13 may perform purchase processing, in which case,the cellular telephone 13 performs purchase processing in a mannersimilar to the PC 12.

As described above, purchase processing can be performed in apredetermined device, and another device can store the purchased contentdata therein. This enables the user to download desired content data toa device at home by using another device when he/she is away.Accordingly, it becomes easier for the user to obtain desired contentdata.

In the above-described embodiment, basically, the user who purchasescontent data and the user who enjoys the content data are the same user.In other words, the user paying a fee for the purchased content data(the user to be charged) and the user obtaining the content data are thesame user. Also in other words, the device for performing processing forpurchasing the content data and the device for storing the purchasedcontent data are owned by the same user.

A description is now given of the case where the user A (FIG. 1)performs processing for purchasing content data and the user B enjoysthe content data purchased by the user A by using a device owned by theuser B. In other words, the user A gives the content data (license data)to the user B as a present.

As stated above, content data cannot be played back without the licensedata. For example, content data does not have to be provided via thenetwork 1, and may be recorded on a recording medium, such as a CD(Compact Disc) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and is given as apresent. In this case, license data may be provided via the network 1 toa device playing back such a recording medium. The following processingcan also be applied to such a case.

By considering the definition of license data, license data is notalways necessary, for example, when content data is distributed free ofcharge, content data can be played back without license data.

In this sense, there are some cases that license data be preferablygiven as a present. In the following description, it is indicated thatcontent data is given as a present; however, it actually means that boththe content data and license data are offered as a present and that onlylicense data is given as a present.

Processing for offering content data as a present is discussed below,assuming that the user A performs processing for purchasing content dataas a present by using the PC 12 and that the user B obtains (stores) thecontent data offered by the user A in the STB 21 (FIG. 1). In otherwords, the service provider 2 bills the user A and distributes thecontent data to the user B.

The overall processing flow (processing flow between the PC 12, theservice provider 2, and the STB 21) is basically similar to thatindicated by the flowchart shown in FIG. 23. In the flowchart of FIG.23, the processing performed by the PC is the processing performed bythe PC 12 of the user A, and the processing performed by the STB is theprocessing performed by the STB 21 of the user B.

When performing processing concerning presents, the service provider 2must perform the corresponding processing. Accordingly, a description isgiven below of the processing by the service provider 2. A descriptionis first given of, with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 29 and 30,content purchase processing including processing concerning presents bythe service provider 2.

In the flowchart of FIG. 29, steps S307 and S308 are added to theflowchart of FIG. 24. That is, steps S301 through S306 of the flowchartin FIG. 29 are basically similar to steps S201 through S206 of theflowchart in FIG. 24. Steps S309 through S314 of the flowchart in FIG.29 are basically similar to steps S207 through S212 of the flowchart inFIG. 24.

Accordingly, only an explanation of executing processing concerningpresents is given by omitting a description of the processing by theservice provider 2 discussed with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 24.When executing present processing by the service provider 2, purchaseform data sent in step S305 is different from that in theabove-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the screen based on the purchase formdata is that shown in FIG. 25. When executing present processing,however, purchase form data displayed on a screen, such as that shown inFIG. 31, of the user device (in this case, the display unit 261 of thePC 12 of the user A) is sent in step S305.

On the screen shown in FIG. 31, a column for inputting the user ID, acolumn for inputting the password, and a radio button for checking whengiving an affirmative answer in response to a message “Is it forpresent?” are provided. When the user wishes to give content data to bepurchased to another user as a present, he/she checks the radio buttoncorresponding to the message “Is it for present?”. FIG. 31 illustratesthe state in which the radio button has been checked.

When sending purchase form data for displaying such a screen on thedisplay unit 261 of the user, the service provider 2 enters in thestandby mode to wait for information input by the user by referring tothe purchase form. Upon receiving the information filled in the purchaseform in step S306, the process proceeds to step S307.

The received information contains at least the user ID and password, andmay contain information indicating that the content data to be purchasedis for a present. The processing of step S307 is performed by using theinformation indicating whether the content data to be purchased is for apresent.

If it is determined in step S307 that the content data to be purchasedis for a present (such information is contained), the process proceedsto step S308. If it is determined in step S307 that the content to bepurchased is not for a present (such information is not contained), theprocess proceeds to step S309.

When the process proceeds to step S309, that is, when the content datato be purchased is not for a present, the subsequent process isperformed similarly to that shown in FIG. 24.

When the process proceeds to step S308, present processing is performed.Before explaining the processing of step S308, the handling of the userID and password of the information received in step S306 is discussedbelow.

When the process proceeds to step S309, as discussed with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 24, the user ID and password are used forspecifying the device for receiving the purchased content data and forconducting user authentication. When the process proceeds to step S308,the user ID and password are used for specifying the user to be charged,which is described below.

The present processing in step S308 is described below with reference tothe flowchart of FIG. 30. In step S321, data concerning a present formis sent. An example of the screen displayed on the user device, in thiscase, on the display unit 261 of the PC 12 of the user A, by performingprocessing based on the present form data is shown in FIG. 32.

On the screen shown in FIG. 32, a column for inputting the mail addressof the user to receive the present and a column for inputting the timeand date when the user wishes to deliver the present are provided. Thereason for inputting the mail address of the user to receive the presentis to specify the user (device) for receiving the content data as apresent.

The reason for inputting the time and date when the user wishes todeliver the present is to respond to a user's desire to supply thecontent data as a specific date, for example, a birthday. The input ofthe time and date for delivering the present is not essential, and evenif the user does not input the time and date, the subsequent processingis performed.

Although the mail address is used for specifying the user to deliver thepresent, another information may be used. A description has been given,assuming that the information shown in FIG. 18 is contained in thedestination table, and among such items of information, the mail addressseems to be most suitable for specifying the user to deliver thepresent. Thus, the mail address is used by way of example.

When it is controlled that the same user ID is not present in thedestination table, as in this embodiment, the user to receive thepresent can be uniquely determined by the user ID. Accordingly, the userID can be used as the information for specifying the user to receive thepresent. In this case, in the screen shown in FIG. 32, instead of themail address, the user ID of the user to receive the present can beinput.

If the user's real name, telephone number, and address are contained inthe destination table (or another table in the service provider 2), suchinformation may be used for specifying the user to receive the present.Alternatively, the user can be specified by a combination of theabove-described items of information.

The information input by the user to give the content data as a presentby referring to the screen shown in FIG. 32 is received by the serviceprovider 2 in step S322. The service provider 2 extracts the mailaddress contained in the information received in step S322. In stepS323, it is determined whether the extracted mail address is stored(registered) in the destination table (for example, the destinationtable shown in FIG. 18).

If it is determined in step S323 that the extracted mail address isregistered in the destination table, the process proceeds to step S324.If it is determined that the extracted mail address is not registered,the present processing based on the flowchart of FIG. 30 is terminated.If the extracted mail address is not registered in the destinationtable, the device (user) to receive the content data as a present cannotbe specified. Thus, if it is determined that the mail address is notregistered, present processing is terminated.

If it is determined that the extracted mail address is not registered inthe destination table, processing for instructing the user to re-inputthe mail address may be performed. If the present processing isterminated because the destination cannot be specified, a messageindicating that the purchase processing has failed may be sent to theuser device of the user who has sent a request to purchase the contentdata in step S314 (FIG. 29).

If it is determined in step S323 that the extracted mail address isregistered in the destination table, the process proceeds to step S324.In step S324, mail is sent to the extracted mail address. It is assumedthat the extracted mail address is “ΔXΔ@x.co.jp”. The destination tableshown in FIG. 18 shows that this mail address is the mail address of theuser having a user ID “KAKIKU”.

When the extracted mail address coincides with the mail addressindicated in the destination table, the outcome of step S323 is YES, andthe process proceeds to step S324. When the result of step S323 isdetermined to be YES, the information indicated in the same entry of themail address is also read if necessary. In this case, at leastinformation “personal computer”, “STB”, and “cellular telephone”indicated in the terminal name are read. The read information iscontained in the mail and is sent.

The content of the mail is as shown in FIG. 33. It is now assumed thatthe mail is received by the PC 22 of the user B and the content (screen)shown in FIG. 33 is displayed on a display unit 301 of the PC 22.

On the screen shown in FIG. 33, a message “You have content present fromuser A”. Do you wish to accept it?” is displayed. In the “user A” inthis message, the user ID or the name of the user A registered before(which is managed as one item of information in the destination table inassociation with another item information) is displayed. When sendingmail for displaying such a screen, the service provider 2 specifies theuser who has offered the present from the user ID (or the password orthe user ID and the password) of the user, and forms a mail message sothat the character string indicating the specified user can be displayedin the “user A” in the above-described message.

On the screen shown in FIG. 33, radio buttons for responding to themessage “Do you wish to accept the present?” are provided; one is for“YES”, and the other one is for “NO”. When the radio buttoncorresponding to “YES” is checked, radio buttons for responding to themessage “Please select the device by which you wish to receive thepresent” becomes effective.

In the example shown in FIG. 33, radio buttons for three terminal names“personal computer”, “STB”, and “cellular telephone” are provided. Ifthe user to receive the present has registered only one device(terminal), only one terminal name is displayed in the portion in whichthe terminal name is indicated. If only one terminal name is displayed,the device corresponding to the terminal name has to be specified as thedestination for the content data. That is, since there is no choice forthe device, the terminal name does not have to be displayed or selected.Accordingly, if only one terminal name is to be displayed, it is notnecessary to be displayed.

The information input by the user to receive the present by referring tothe screen shown in FIG. 33 is sent to the service provider 2. Theservice provider 2 determines in step S325 whether information from theuser to receive the present has been received. If it is determined thatthe information has been received, the process proceeds to step S326.

In step S326, the service provider 2 extracts the user's response forthe query “Do you wish to accept the present?” contained in the receivedinformation, and determines whether the extracted response is “YES”.That is, it is determined in step S326 whether the user to receive thepresent has decided to accept the present.

If it is determined in step S326 that the user to receive the presenthas decided not to accept the present, the present processing does nothave to be executed, and thus, the processing based on the flowchart inFIG. 30 is terminated. When the user to receive the present (in thiscase, the user B) has refused to accept the present, a messageindicating such information may be sent to the user who has offered thepresent (in this case, the user A) by email.

If it is determined in step S326 that the user to receive the presenthas decided to accept the present, the process proceeds to step S327. Instep S327, a schedule is formed to distribute the content data to thedestination as a present. The schedule to be formed is basically similarto that shown in FIG. 22.

Details of the schedule formed in step S327 are given below withreference to FIG. 22, assuming that a present is given from the user Ato the user B. In the “content ID”, the ID of the content specified bythe user A as a present for the user B is indicated. In the “destinationdevice ID”, the device ID corresponding to the device (terminal name)specified by the user B and received in step S325 is indicated.

In the “billing user ID”, the user ID of the user A offering the presentis indicated. In the “distribution time”, the time designated by theuser A as the time to deliver the present to the user B is basicallyindicated. The reason for indicating “basically” is that there is apossibility of the service provider 2 writing (setting) a time otherthan the designated time in the subsequent scheduling processing.

After creating such a schedule, the process proceeds to step S314 (FIG.29). In step S314, it is reported that the purchase request has beenaccepted. When the present processing has been executed and the user toreceive the present has decided to accept the present, theabove-described report is sent to the user to receive the present andthe user to offer the present.

When the user to receive the present has decided not to accept thepresent after executing the present processing, it is reported to theuser that the present processing has been terminated, and it is reportedto the user to offer the present that the present has been refused.

When the present processing is not executed, i.e., when it is determinedin step S307 that the content data is not for a present, the subsequentprocessing is performed. In this case, processing similar to step S212of the flowchart in FIG. 24 is performed.

The purchase processing including the present processing has beenperformed by the service provider 2. A description is now given of theprocessing for distributing content data by the service provider 2. Theprocessing for distributing content data by the service provider 2 isbasically similar to that of the flowchart in FIG. 27, and anexplanation thereof is thus omitted. In this case, however, theprocessing is performed between the service provider 2 and the userdevice to receive a present, for example, the STB 21.

When the content data is distributed as a present, a distributioncompletion report in step S239 may preferably be given not only to theuser who has received the present, but also to the user who has offeredthe present. By sending a report to the user who has offered thepresent, it is possible to inform the user that the present has beensent and the user is to be billed for it.

The device to receive a present (in this case, for example, the STB 21of the user B) performs the processing indicated by the flowchart ofFIG. 28. That is, regardless of whether the user B receives content datapurchased by himself/herself or receives content data offered by theuser A as a present, processing is similarly performed.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, content data (license data) can beoffered to another user as a present.

Scheduling performed by the service provider 2 is described below. Thescheduling is performed, for example, in step S313 (FIG. 29), when aninstruction is given to purchase a new item of content.

The situations in which scheduling is performed is checked. In onesituation, the user A performs purchase processing by using a deviceowned by the user A, and stores content data in the same device used forpurchase processing. In another situation, the user A performs purchaseprocessing by using a device owned by the user A, and stores contentdata in a device different from the device used for purchase processing.

In another situation, the user A performs purchase processing by using adevice owned by the user A, and stores content data in a device owned bythe user B different from the user A.

In this manner, there are several relationships between the device forperforming purchase processing and the device storing the purchasedcontent data. The content data may be distributed at the time designatedby the user or set by the service provider 2.

The data amount of content data to be distributed is not uniform, andsome data may be sent in a short time, and for other data, it takes along time to send.

By considering such various situations, the timing of sending contentdata must be determined. The processing for determining the timing ofsending data is to perform scheduling.

Before describing scheduling performed by the scheduler 204 (FIG. 7) ofthe service provider 2 with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 35, atable to be checked when performing scheduling is discussed withreference to FIG. 34. FIG. 34 illustrates a table to be checked whenforming a schedule by the scheduler 204, and this table shows thereservation times when predetermined items of content are to bedistributed.

In a distribution reservation table 321, reservations can be made everyten minutes, and time spans at 1:00, 1:10, 1:20, and 1:30 are enlarged.In FIG. 34, black dots indicate that reservations have been made, andwhite dots indicate that no reservations are made (free).

FIG. 34 illustrates that N reservations can be made from 0 to 10minutes. A specific number N is determined by the data amount of contentdata to be distributed and the data amount (transmission capacity) bywhich the service provider 2 can distribute for 10 minutes. However,since the transmission capacity (processing capacity) is constant, thenumber N is basically determined by the data amount of content data.

Accordingly, when many items of content data having a larger amount ofdata are sent, the number N becomes smaller, and when many items ofcontent data having a smaller amount of data is sent, the number Nbecomes larger. Thus, N varies according to the time spans. N isdetermined by considering the amount of content data that have alreadybeen reserved.

The distribution reservation table 321 includes a defined portion 322and an undefined portion 323. In the defined portion 322, the number ofreservations that have been determined as schedules is indicated. In theundefined portion 323, the number of reservations that cannot bedetermined as schedules since requests for presents have not beenaccepted by the users is indicated.

The scheduler 204 performs scheduling based on the flowchart of FIG. 35by referring to the distribution reservation table 321 shown in FIG. 34.The processing for determining the distribution time is described belowwith reference to the flowchart of FIG. 35 without explaining processingfor obtaining other information. The other information has already beenobtained and written as stated above.

In step S351, the scheduler 204 determines whether a request to purchasea new item of content has been made and whether it is necessary to forma schedule for distributing the content.

As discussed above, the processing for purchasing content is performedby the content-distribution reservation unit 201. When determining thata content reservation has been made (for example, step S211 of FIG. 24is performed), the content-distribution reservation unit 201 instructsthe scheduler 204 to form a new schedule. The scheduler 204 makes adetermination in step S351 by determining whether the above instructionhas been given.

If it is determined in step S351 that a new schedule is to be formed,the process proceeds to step S352. In step S352, it is determinedwhether a schedule to be formed is a schedule concerning a present. Thereason for making the determination in step S352 is that a scheduleconcerning a present (specially, the time to distribute the contentdata) cannot be determined before the user to receive the presentdecides to accept the present.

If it is determined in step S352 that the schedule to be formed is not aschedule concerning a present, it is determined in step S353 whether thetime to distribute the content data to be purchased is designated by theuser. If it is determined in step S353 that the time to distribute thecontent data is designated, the process proceeds to step S354. In stepS354, it is determined whether it is possible to distribute the contentdata at the designated time.

This determination can be made by referring to the distributionreservation table 321 shown in FIG. 34. For example, when checking thetime span at 1:00, N reservations can be made at 1:00. Reservations havealready been made in 0-1 through 0-3, while there is no reservation in0-4 and 0-N. If the content data distribution time is designated at 1:00by the user, a reservation can be made in 0-4. Thus, it can bedetermined that content data can be distributed at the time designatedby the user.

When checking, for example, the time span at 1:10, N (different from thenumber N at 1:00) reservations can be made for the time span at 1:10.Reservations have already been made in 10-1 through 10-N. That is, noreservations can be made at 1:10. If the content data distribution timeis designated at 1:10 by the user, no reservations can be made. Thus, itcan be determined that it is not possible to distribute the content dataat the time designated by the user.

In this manner, if it is determined in step S354 that the content datacan be distributed at the time designated by the user, the processproceeds to step S355. In step S355, the designated time is set to bethe content data distribution time. That is, the time specified by theuser is written into the “distribution time” in FIG. 22. In this case,information “not distributed” is written into the “distribution status”.

When the user designates the content data distribution time and when itis determined that content data can be distributed at the timedesignated by the user, a schedule with the designated time is formed.

If it is determined in step S354 that the content data cannot bedistributed at the time designated by the user, the process proceeds tostep S356. In step S356, the time closest to the designated time by theuser and at which the content data can be distributed is searched for bychecking the distribution reservation table 321.

Reference is again made to FIG. 34. If the time designated by the useris 1:10, the time span at 1:10 is fully reserved, and thus, it isdetermined that content data cannot be distributed at 1:10 designated bythe user. In this case, the time before or after the designated time ischecked. It necessary to preset whether to first search the time beforeor after the designated time, and basically, it is not important whichis searched first.

When the time before the designated time is searched first, the time tobe searched (time A) is compared with the time when search is conducted(current time), and unless the time A is after the current time, thetime A is not searched. For example, if the designated time is 1:10, thetime before the designated time (i.e., time A) is 1:00, and if the timewhen search is conducted (i.e., the current time) is, for example, 1:05,content data cannot be distributed (reserved) at time A.

In step S356, by checking the distribution reservation table 321, andthe time closest to the designated time by the user and at which thecontent data can be distributed is set to be the distribution time.Then, the set time is written into the “distribution time” of theschedule (FIG. 22).

As described above, when the user specifies the content datadistribution time and when it is determined that the content data cannotbe distributed at the designated time, a schedule in which the timeclosest to the designated time and at which the content data can bedistributed is formed.

The above-described processing is executed when the user has designatedthe time. If it is determined in step S353 that the user has notdesignated the content data distribution time, the process proceeds tostep S357. In step S357, the time (basically after the current time)closest to the time (current time) when the schedule is formed and atwhich the content data can be distributed is set to be the distributiontime.

As discussed above, when the user has not specified the content datadistribution time, the scheduler 204 forms a schedule with the time whenthe content data can be distributed.

If it is determined in step S352 that a new schedule to be formed is aschedule concerning a present, the process proceeds to step S358. Instep S358, the scheduler 204 forms a schedule in which the information“distribution status” in FIG. 22 is set to be “undefined”, i.e., it isnot determined whether to distribute the content data.

In this case, the date (time) designated by the user as the time anddate at which the user delivers the content data as a present is writteninto the information “distribution time” of the schedule shown in FIG.22. Such a schedule is counted as one reservation in the undefinedportion 323 of the destination reservation table 321.

The reservation cannot be defined as a schedule even though the timewhen the content data is distributed is designated. This is becauseinformation indicating whether the user to receive the present hasdecided to accept the present has not been received. It is thendetermined in step S359 whether information indicating whether the userhas decided to accept the present has been received. This processing issimilar to the processing in step S325 of the flowchart in FIG. 30.

Step S359 is performed by determining whether the scheduler 204 hasreceived information concerning a response from the user to receive thepresent. If it is determined in step S359 that information has beenreceived, the process proceeds to step S360.

It is determined in step S360 whether the received information indicatesthat the present is to be received (accepted). If the information isfound to indicate that the present is to be accepted, the processproceeds to step S353 and the step S353 and the subsequent steps areperformed. Step S353 and the subsequent steps have been discussed, andan explanation thereof is omitted, except for processing for a scheduleconcerning a present.

It is determined in step S353 by referring to undefined scheduleswhether the time has been designated. That is, even undefined scheduleshave already been formed as schedules, such as those shown in FIG. 22,and the “distribution time” is checked to perform step S353.

If a predetermined time is written as the information “distributiontime”, the process proceeds to step S354. In step S354, the time writtenin the “distribution time” is compared with the current time, and if thewritten time is after the current time and if the content data can bedistributed at the written time, the process proceeds to step S355.

If it is determined in step S354, as a result of comparing the writtentime with the current time, that the written time is before the currenttime, the written time has already elapsed. That is, the time designatedas the time to deliver the present has already elapsed.

In this case, the process proceeds to step S356. In step S356, theearliest possible time is preferably set to be the distribution timerather than the time closest to the designated time and at which thecontent data can be distributed.

When the “distribution time” in the schedule is set and written,information indicating the “distribution status” is also changed from“undefined” to “not yet distributed”. Also, the number of reservationswritten into the undefined portion 323 of the distribution table 321 isdecremented by one, and the number of reservations corresponding to theset time in the defined portion 323 is incremented by one.

A schedule concerning a present can be formed, as described above.

If it is determined in step S360 that information from the user toreceive the present indicates that the user does not accept the present,the process proceeds to step S361. In step S361, the undefined schedulefor the content refused is discarded. In this processing, the number ofreservations in the undefined portion 323 of the destination reservationtable 321 is decremented by one.

The schedule formed as described above is provided to the STB 11 inresponse to queries from the STB 11 at predetermined time intervals asto whether a new schedule has not been formed for the STB 11. The STB 11sends a request to distribute content data based on the providedschedule, and the request is sent after the time when the schedule hasbeen received.

Because of this time lag, it is necessary to consider the possibilitythat the situation of the STB 11 has changed from the time when it hasreceived the schedule to the time when the STB 11 sends a request todistribute content data.

More specifically, the STB 11 is provided with the storage unit 85 (FIG.3) having a limited capacity, and content data is stored in this storageunit 85. Even if the storage unit 85 has a capacity for storing thecontent data to be distributed when the schedule has been received, thecapacity of the storage unit 85 may become short because another contentdata is received and stored before sending a request to distribute thecontent data.

In this manner, even if the STB 11 sends a request to distribute contentdata based on a schedule and receives the content data, the capacity ofthe storage unit 85 may not be enough for storing the content data. Ifsuch a situation occurs in the STB 11, it is necessary that the serviceprovider 2 perform processing for re-sending the content data.

Processing for sending content data by the service provider 2 byconsidering such a situation is described below with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 36.

In the flowchart of FIG. 36, steps S385 and S386 are added to theflowchart of FIG. 27. That is, steps S381 through S384 and steps S387through S391 of the flowchart in FIG. 36 are similar to steps S231through S234 and S235 through S239 of the flowchart in FIG. 27, and anexplanation thereof is thus omitted.

Step S385 is performed when it is determined that the STB 11 (by way ofexample) has sent a request to distribute content data. In step S385,when distributing the requested content data, it is determined whetherthe device for receiving the content data can reliably store the contentdata. The information for making this determination must be sent fromthe STB 11.

When sending a request to distribute content data, the STB 11 sendsinformation concerning the remaining capacity of the storage unit 85 tothe service provider 2. The service provider 2 compares the remainingcapacity of the storage unit 85 with the size of the requested contentdata, and only when the remaining capacity of the storage unit isgreater than the size of the content data, the process proceeds to stepS387, and step S387 and the subsequent steps, i.e., processing fordistributing the content data, are executed.

Alternatively, when sending a request to distribute content data, theSTB 11 compares the remaining capacity of the storage unit 85 with thesize of the content data to request (the STB 11 can obtain thisinformation by referring to the information concerning the schedulereceived in step S253 of FIG. 28), and sends information indicatingwhether there is a capacity for storing the content data in the storageunit 85 to the service provider 2.

The service provider 2 receives either of the information indicatingthat the content data can be received or the information indicating thatthe content data cannot be received. By using such information, theservice provider 2 may perform step S385.

In any case, the service provider 2 does not execute step S387 unless itdetermines that the STB 11 can store the content data to be received.Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the STB 11cannot store received content data.

When it is determined in step S385 that it is not possible to sendrequested content data, the process proceeds to step S386. In step S386,the schedule is changed. That is, in step S386, it is understood thatcontent data to be distributed cannot be sent, and that it should bedistributed another time.

Accordingly, the “distribution time” of the schedule has to be rewritten(changed). The “distribution time” may be rewritten so that the contentdata is re-sent after the lapse of a predetermined time, for example,after one hour. In this case, details in the distribution reservationtable 321 are also rewritten, and the number of reservations at thechanged time is incremented by one.

Alternatively, the service provider 2 may send mail to the user toinstruct him/her to change the distribution time, and may change theschedule based on a response from the user. In this case, the“distribution status” of the corresponding schedule is changed to “notdefined” until a response from the user is received. Accordingly, thenumber of reservations of the undefined portion 322 of the distributionreservation table 321 is incremented by one. Then, when receiving aresponse, the “distribution time” in the schedule is changed to the timeindicated in the response, and the number of reservations at the changedtime in the distribution reservation table 321 is incremented by one.

When the schedule is rewritten, the rewritten schedule is re-sent to theSTB 11, and the STB 11 performs processing based on the rewrittenschedule. The content data is then sent and received.

Alternatively, when the STB 11 becomes ready to store the content data,it may re-send a request to distribute the content data. In this case,the service provider 2 maintains the “distribution status” in thecorresponding schedule to be “not distributed” without deleting theschedule.

As discussed above, by sending required information from the STB 11 andby performing corresponding processing by the service provider 2, it ispossible to prevent a situation in which content data received by theSTB 11 cannot be stored. Thus, the service provider 2 does not performprocessing for distributing content data in vain.

In the above-described embodiment, processing for purchasing one item ofcontent is described by way of example. However, processing forpurchasing a plurality of items of content data at the same time can beperformed, and a plurality of items of content data can be sent andreceived at the same time.

The above-described series of processing may be executed by hardwarehaving the corresponding functions or by software. If software is usedto execute the series of processing, the software program is installedfrom a recording medium into a computer built in dedicated hardware or acomputer, such as a general-purpose computer, that can execute variousfunctions by installing various programs thereinto.

The recording medium may be a package medium, for example, the magneticdisk 61 (including flexible disk), the optical disc 62 (including CD-ROM(Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), themagneto-optical disk 63 (including MD (Mini-Disc) (registered)), or thesemiconductor memory 64, which is distributed for providing the programto the user, separately from the personal computer, such as the serviceprovider 2. The recording medium may also be formed of the ROM 42 or ahard disk containing the storage unit 48 storing the program therein,which is provided to the user while being integrated in a computer.

In this specification, the steps forming the program provided by themedium may be executed in chronological order as described in thespecification. Alternatively, the steps may be executed concurrently orindividually.

In this specification, the system is the entire apparatus formed of aplurality of devices.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, content data can be supplied to userdevices.

According to the present invention, the device used for performingprocessing for purchasing content data and the device for storing thepurchased content data can be different. Thus, the user can performpurchase processing in a desired device, and can store the purchasedcontent data in a device that can easily play back the content data.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatuscomprising: memory configured to store a first user ID and a second userID; and circuitry configured to control transmission of a content ID toa second apparatus associated with the second user ID in response to arequest from the second apparatus, receive from the second apparatus thefirst user ID and the content ID, identify, in response to receiving thefirst user ID and the content ID from the second apparatus, a first usercorresponding to the first user ID and associated with the firstapparatus as a recipient of purchased content corresponding to thecontent ID from the received first user ID, and control distribution ofpurchased content identified by the content ID to the first apparatusassociated with the first user ID, wherein the content ID identifiescontent and is distinct from any license permitting playback of contentcorresponding to the content ID.
 2. The information processing apparatusof claim 1, wherein the first user ID is an email address of the firstuser.
 3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecontent ID corresponds to music or video content.
 4. The informationprocessing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to control transmission of a plurality of content IDs to thesecond apparatus associated with the second user ID in response to therequest from the second apparatus, the content ID being included in theplurality of content IDs.
 5. The information processing apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to controltransmission of a fee associated with the content ID to the secondapparatus.
 6. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe circuitry is further configured to control transmission ofdescriptive information associated with the content ID to the secondapparatus.
 7. An information processing method implemented by aninformation processing apparatus, comprising: storing a first user IDand a second user ID; controlling transmission of a content ID to asecond apparatus associated with the second user ID in response to arequest from the second apparatus; receiving from the second apparatusthe first user ID and the content ID; identifying, in response toreceiving the first user ID and the content ID from the second apparatusand using processing circuitry of the information processing apparatus,a first user corresponding to the first user ID and associated with thefirst apparatus as a recipient of purchased content corresponding to thecontent ID from the received first user ID; and controlling distributionof purchased content identified by the content ID to the first apparatusassociated with the first user ID, wherein the content ID identifiescontent and is distinct from any license permitting playback of contentcorresponding to the content ID.
 8. The information processing apparatusof claim 1, further comprising: controlling transmission of descriptiveinformation associated with the content ID to the second apparatus. 9.The information processing method of claim 7, wherein the first user IDis an email address of the first user.
 10. The information processingmethod of claim 7, wherein the content ID corresponds to music or videocontent.
 11. The information processing method of claim 7, furthercomprising: transmitting a plurality of content IDs to the secondapparatus associated with the second user ID in response to the requestfrom the second apparatus, the content ID being included in theplurality of content IDs.
 12. The information processing method of claim7, further comprising: controlling transmission of a fee associated withthe content ID to the second apparatus.
 13. A non-transitory computerreadable medium having stored thereon a program that when executed by acomputer causes the computer to implement an information processingmethod, comprising: storing a first user ID and a second user ID;controlling transmission of a content ID to a second apparatusassociated with the second user ID in response to a request from thesecond apparatus; receiving from the second apparatus the first user IDand the content ID; identifying, in response to receiving the first userID and the content ID from the second apparatus and using processingcircuitry of the information processing apparatus, a first usercorresponding to the first user ID and associated with the firstapparatus as a recipient of purchased content corresponding to thecontent ID from the received first user ID; and controlling distributionof purchased content identified by the content ID to the first apparatusassociated with the first user ID, wherein the content ID identifiescontent and is distinct from any license permitting playback of contentcorresponding to the content ID.
 14. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 13, wherein the first user ID is an emailaddress of the first user.
 15. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 13, wherein the content ID corresponds to music or videocontent.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13,wherein the method further comprises: transmitting a plurality ofcontent IDs to the second apparatus associated with the second user IDin response to the request from the second apparatus, the content IDbeing included in the plurality of content IDs.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method furthercomprises: controlling transmission of a fee associated with the contentID to the second apparatus.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: controllingtransmission of descriptive information associated with the content IDto the second apparatus.